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WHY U. S. SHOULD MOVE FAST AND WITH
PUNCH WHEAT SITUATION
BY GILSON GARDNER.
Washington, April 18. Unofficial
reports indicate some concern in gov
ernment circles lest Russia be con
sidering a separate peace. This is
one subject which will be discussed
by the distinguished gentlemen who
are arriving . from England and
France.
What Germany tried to accomplish
through the czar, Jhat government is
now trying to accomplish through
the radical members of the reichstag
who have been sent to Copenhagen
to consult with radical Socialists
from Petrograd. The new provision
al government of Russia has form
ally announced that it does not aim
at dominion over other nations, nor
desire the occupation by force of for
eign territories. This might mean
various things. It might mean that
the new government is unwilling to
go on with England for the possible
prize of Constantinople and the Dar
danelles, or it might .mean that the
new Russia does not care to subju
gate Poland, Galicia and other buffer
states on the German frontier. It is
fine for Russia to forego conquest
and to concentrate on home develop-'
ment, but Russia taken from the
alliance leaves Germany much
stronger to deal with France and
England and makes it much more
necessary for the United States to
help.
This is an argument which has
been slipped to members of congress
in high places as one of the reasons
why we should move swiftly and
strongly to do our part.
The Wheat Situation. '
Late reports confirm the early ones
that the winter wheat crop has been
an almost total failure. The United
States on July last had 164,000,000
bushels of wheat carried over from
the crop of 1915. In 1916 this
Country produced 4$3,Q(M-OW bush
els of winter wheat and 158,000,000
bushels of spring wheat, a total sup
ply of 804,000,000 bushels. This
year there will be practically no
wheat carried over and the govern
ment's estimate upon the winter
crop forecasts a yield of only 430,
000,000. On this basis, the spring
wheat crop must be 214,000,000 bush
els larger than last year in order to
give us a wheat supply equal (o
what we will export and consume in
the crop year now closing. The
prospect is not reassuring. A min
imum price offered to farmers for
wheat and other products is the only
thing which will produce what the
country needs.
PLANS NOT YET CERTAIN ON
SENpiNG MEN TO FRANCE
The administration plans in regard
to sending an army to France have
not been definitely worked out. They
will b6 concluded after the confer
ence which is to take place with en
voys from England and France.
Naval co-operation has already been
established. That was a compara
tively simple thing. Defensive meas
ures against submarines and the
opening of facilities to the British
and French warships to coal and pro
vision at our ports were quickly ar
ranged. It is expected that the Euro
pean military authorities will ask the
United States to co-operate financial
ly and industrially only during the
first year. We will be urged to take
no efficient man from the factory or
the farm, but to put all other men
into training for possible future use.
The big thing will be food and a re
serve of munitions. The farm must
be kept at its highest degree of pro
ductiveness and the factory at its
maximum of possible output. In
these ways can the United States
best help our allies. That is why the
administration favors selective con
scription. TMe man who has not a
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